The Network of Young Catholics in Africa Caring for Creation

Protect Creation;Make it Grow!

Pope Francis has this week, during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, reminded Christians of their duty to care for creation. We must be “careful not to become masters of Creation, but to make it go forward, faithful to its laws”, he said in his homily. He went on to add that, “When we hear that people have meetings about how to preserve creation, we can say: ‘No, they are the greens!’ No, they are not the greens! This is the Christian! This is ‘our response to the’ first creation ‘of God. And’ our responsibility. A Christian who does not protect Creation, who does not let it grow, is a Christian who does not care about the work of God, that work that was born from the love of God for us. And this is the first response to the first creation: protect creation, make it grow. “

This call from Pope Francis could not have come at a better time for organizations such as CYNESA, which hosted its first summit of young Catholics from 6 African countries in June 2014. In an interview at the closing of the CYNESA Summit last year, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan, His Excellency Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, hailed CYNESA as an important initiative and encouraged the young to continue to reach out to their peers all acros Africa.

Early this year, CYNESA participated in the formation of the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), an international coalition of Catholic organizations and individuals that, in union with and in support of the pope and bishops, seeks to raise a strong Catholic voice in global climate change discussions.